by Vee Hua 華婷婷
After working without a contract for over three years, the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) tentatively reached a deal with the City of Seattle at the outset of this week.
The City has stated that it cannot legally make public the details of the proposed deal until after the police union has ratified it, but The Seattle Times reported that, if approved, entry-level officers would receive a 23% raise. That percentage would put them among the highest-paid in the state, earning from $83,000 to $102,000 a year, with the potential of up to $110,000 within six months of being hired. The raises would also be retroactive and backdated to when the last contract expired on Dec. 31, 2020 — the same year as the death of George Floyd and related racial justice uprisings.
SPOG is a nonprofit organization that presently represents, according to its infrequently updated website, around 1,300 members, including 855 deployable police officers. The focus on pay raises for new officers is likely to help encourage new police officers to join the force, whose numbers are presently at historic lows since the 1990s. In addition to wages, the contract focuses on accountability, a longtime point of contention between SPOG and City officials, especially after a 2012 Department of Justice finding that the Seattle Police Department (SPD) regularly engaged in excessive use of force and biased policing practices. A federal consent decree called on SPD to reform its poor practices, but SPOG members spent years pushing back on many aspects of the decree, including the need to wear body cameras, revisions to use-of-force policies, civilian oversight rules, and changes regarding arbitration.
In September 2023, most aspects of the federal consent decree were lifted, after U.S. District Judge James Robart — who has been involved since the decree was first issued — determined that the City had significantly reformed its policing practices. According to the court order, "SPD has made tremendous improvements in its policies, methods of operation and leadership with respect to the areas of use of force, stops and detentions and crisis intervention."
Robart did, however, note that the City still needed work around use of force as it pertains to "crowd management context, accountability, and racial disparities," which would remain under his oversight. Robart has also been critical of SPOG's contracts in the past and will be responsible for reviewing the latest contract to ensure that it upholds requirements of the federal consent decree.
The tentative agreement between SPD and SPOG comes at a time when the high-profile SPOG vice president, Officer Dan Auderer, is also facing potential discipline. Following the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old Indian graduate student who was struck and killed by another police officer in January 2023, Auderer was recorded laughing and joking about her death. His comments prompted SPD commanders to recommend that he be fired or forced to take time off without pay. SPD Police Chief Adrian Diaz will decide Auderer's fate after a disciplinary hearing.
For the contract to go into effect, SPOG members must first ratify the deal. It must then be approved by the Seattle City Council amid an impending budget deficit and citywide hiring freeze for most new government roles, outside of those deemed "essential," such as in the police and fire departments. Within 30 days of council approval of the SPOG contract, the City must also prepare a summary agreement for Robart to review, to ensure the contract is in line with the federal consent decree.
The Pacific Science Center recently opened its new outdoor exhibit, "Pollinator Path," in collaboration with Owen Oliver (Quinault/Isleta Pueblo), a multidisciplinary creator working with Headwater People, an organization consisting of a "body of practitioners guided by traditional communities for the sake of doing uncommon work for the common good."
The multi-sensory exhibit celebrates Indigenous knowledge and highlights the complex, reciprocal relationship shared among plants, pollinators, animals, and visitors. Also celebrated are Indigenous agricultural practices, such as the "Three Sisters" — corn, beans, and squash — which have long been known to grow in harmony when planted together. Other foods, plants, and medicines of significance to Indigenous people and larger ecosystems are also highlighted throughout the exhibit.
"Pollinator Path is important because it centers Indigenous stories that have been told in and outside of the Pacific Northwest," said Oliver in a press release. "Pollinators are a piece of these stories that call us to reflect on how and if we are being good stewards to our non-human kin. Chinuk Wawa (Chinook Jargon) used here highlights a collaboration of Native/non-Native words and syntax in the Northwest. I wanted to use it here to emphasize the vast and unique Indigenous languages that are still spoken and being revitalized in Washington."
Oliver is also the creator of the Indigenous Walking Tour, which helps tell the story of Indigenous community members across the University of Washington campus, and is a current artist in residence at the y™haw" Indigenous Creatives Collective, where he will compose "a hybrid essay that amplifies the y™haw" land through Salish & Chinook knowledge systems, wellness, language, and historical context. The essay will hone on the infancy of the plot and the reimagined futures of what kinship with the land looks like in urban Seattle."
A number of grants are now available for small community nonprofits or tribal organizations specializing in mental health and wellness to host community listening sessions, through a project called "Be Heard: BIPOC Voices about Mental Health & Wellness Community Listening Project." The conversations would ideally help inform the King County Department of Community and Human Services' Behavioral Health and Recovery Division (BHRD), as it tries to improve upon its existing behavioral health contracts, services, and programming in order to better serve BIPOC communities.
The program is administered through the BHRD, with funding by the MIDD Behavioral Health Sales Tax Fund, which is a 0.1% countywide sales tax that goes toward funding programs and services for individuals living with or at risk of behavioral health conditions. It generates an average of $136 million for each two-year biennium.
Applications and details can be found on its online form. Proposals are due on April 17, and applicants can apply for up to $9,999.
Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the editor-in-chief of REDEFINE, a long-time member of the Seattle Arts Commission, and a film educator at the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they previously served as executive director and played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences. After a recent stint as the interim managing editor at South Seattle Emerald, they are moving into production on their feature film, Reckless Spirits, which is a metaphysical, multilingual POC buddy comedy. They have a master's in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the American Indian Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
📸 Featured Image: A Seattle Police vehicle at the back of the Fiestas Patrias Parade in South Park in 2017. (Photo: Joe Mabel via Wikicommons, under a Creative Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 license.)
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